FSTC Exam 2 2024/2025 questions and answers | verified
Kosher - food acceptable to all Jews; fit for consumption
Treif - not kosher
Orthodox Jews - 10% of the Jewish population, bound to all of the traditional laws, expect all
adherents to be kosher, local Rabbi is the final decision maker
Responsa - Orthodox Jews: Rabbi's policy opinions, with broad acceptance over time determines
what becomes incorporated into law
Conservative Jews - largest group of US Jews, normally expect all adherents to be kosher;
realistically more limited observance by individual members & they are officially tied to the traditional
law although more often liberal in interpreting it
Reform Jews - limited involvement in kosher, do not feel bound to the traditional law
Re constructionist Jews - may be kosher, a modern, more spiritualistic group
four main kosher laws - 1. allow birds and animals
2. prohibition of consuming blood of meat and poultry
3. "complete" separation of milk and meat
4. prohibition of certain grains at Passover where the bread is unleavened
Passover - religious festival celebrating the Exodus
Mainstream Kosher supervision - represented by the "big four" national agencies
1. OU
2. Kof-K
, 3. Star-K
4. OK
Permitted Ruminants in Kosher - 1. must have a split hoof
2. must chew their cud (cattle, buffalo, deer, giraffe)
3. must be a tradition of using the animal for food
4. castrated animals are not considered kosher
Non-kosher animals - camels, pigs, horse, llama, alpaca, rabbits
kosher birds - turkeys, ducks, chickens; more of a middle toe, extended forward or back, crop
(used for food storage), favors seed eating birds, the gizzard can be peeled by hand
non-kosher birds - birds of prey, pelicans, swans- fish eating birds, and speaking birds
Shochet - Slaughter man; only person who can slaughter and animal (mammal or fowl) must be
Shomer Shabbos (sabbath observant man); has special training, both religious (legal) and practical says
blessing before commencing slaughter (asking for forgiveness for taking a life)
Mikvah - ritual bath used by shochets when finished slaughtering
Ketuba - the ritual slaughterer, must have certificate of training from a certifying agency
Chalef - slaughtering knife, straight blade, must be at least twice the length of the animals neck
but not weigh more than the animals head, must be extremely sharp, must be checked after each use,
use the fingernail test, if the knife fails the test the previously slaughtered animals must be rejected
Poultry slaughter - a smaller chalef is only used to cut the windpipe, can be done by machine with
a rotating knife, kosher knife check is done after a group of birds have been processed, if there is a
problem, the company would be required to reject the entire set of birds since the last inspection
Kosher - food acceptable to all Jews; fit for consumption
Treif - not kosher
Orthodox Jews - 10% of the Jewish population, bound to all of the traditional laws, expect all
adherents to be kosher, local Rabbi is the final decision maker
Responsa - Orthodox Jews: Rabbi's policy opinions, with broad acceptance over time determines
what becomes incorporated into law
Conservative Jews - largest group of US Jews, normally expect all adherents to be kosher;
realistically more limited observance by individual members & they are officially tied to the traditional
law although more often liberal in interpreting it
Reform Jews - limited involvement in kosher, do not feel bound to the traditional law
Re constructionist Jews - may be kosher, a modern, more spiritualistic group
four main kosher laws - 1. allow birds and animals
2. prohibition of consuming blood of meat and poultry
3. "complete" separation of milk and meat
4. prohibition of certain grains at Passover where the bread is unleavened
Passover - religious festival celebrating the Exodus
Mainstream Kosher supervision - represented by the "big four" national agencies
1. OU
2. Kof-K
, 3. Star-K
4. OK
Permitted Ruminants in Kosher - 1. must have a split hoof
2. must chew their cud (cattle, buffalo, deer, giraffe)
3. must be a tradition of using the animal for food
4. castrated animals are not considered kosher
Non-kosher animals - camels, pigs, horse, llama, alpaca, rabbits
kosher birds - turkeys, ducks, chickens; more of a middle toe, extended forward or back, crop
(used for food storage), favors seed eating birds, the gizzard can be peeled by hand
non-kosher birds - birds of prey, pelicans, swans- fish eating birds, and speaking birds
Shochet - Slaughter man; only person who can slaughter and animal (mammal or fowl) must be
Shomer Shabbos (sabbath observant man); has special training, both religious (legal) and practical says
blessing before commencing slaughter (asking for forgiveness for taking a life)
Mikvah - ritual bath used by shochets when finished slaughtering
Ketuba - the ritual slaughterer, must have certificate of training from a certifying agency
Chalef - slaughtering knife, straight blade, must be at least twice the length of the animals neck
but not weigh more than the animals head, must be extremely sharp, must be checked after each use,
use the fingernail test, if the knife fails the test the previously slaughtered animals must be rejected
Poultry slaughter - a smaller chalef is only used to cut the windpipe, can be done by machine with
a rotating knife, kosher knife check is done after a group of birds have been processed, if there is a
problem, the company would be required to reject the entire set of birds since the last inspection
